Personal Foul
by Romantique The Original
Summary: SEASON 4 SPOILERS. An Eric/Tami story. Prequel to "Piling On" that also includes Julie. Author's Note: I went back and wrote this one after I wrote "Piling On" before S4 Ep 2 aired.


Title: Personal Foul

Author: Romantique

Email:

Classification: Eric/Tami Angst

Rating: T for some language.

Summary: SEASON 4 SPOILERS. Prequel to "Piling On" that also includes Julie. Not only has redistricting taken its toll on the town of Dillon, it's also taking a crushing toll on Eric and Tami's relationship.

Author's Note: I went back and wrote this one after I wrote "Piling On" and before Season 4 Episode 2 aired.

Disclaimer: SPOILERS: Friday Night Lights fan fiction occurs at the beginning of Season 4, after "East of Dillon."

Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.

**personal foul:**

A flagrant illegal act that is generally deemed to unnecessarily risk the health of other players.

Coach Eric Taylor arrived home from school, unloading groceries in their atypically cluttered kitchen.

His wife, Tami, was in the bedroom getting dressed, so he spoke loudly enough to be heard down the hall. "I know you didn't have time to get to the store this weekend, so I brought home a bucket of chicken for dinner. And I picked up some milk and juice, and eggs for breakfast. Oh, and coffee, too. There's enough chicken here in this bucket for lunch tomorrow."

"Julie won't eat that chicken, Hon," Tami answered from the bedroom. "It's not free range."

Eric quickly put the perishable groceries into the refrigerator. "Well, Julie's gonna have to either become a hell of a lot less picky or else she can start buyin' the damn groceries around here." Under his breath, he muttered, "I did remember to buy her cage free eggs."

After putting the paper grocery bags away, he announced, "Babe, I have no clean shirt for school tomorrow. I ordered some more to get me through a week, but they haven't come in yet."

"Don't look at me," Tami answered as she ran down the hall from the bedroom. "I have a School Board meeting tonight. And Julie has to work every night this week to make her car payment. You'll have to do a load of laundry. Remember to wash those bright red shirts separate in cold water unless you want pink socks and kakis. And would you please do a load of play clothes for Gracie, too and pack her diaper bag for day care tomorrow? Thanks, Honey." Then, she added, "It's your turn to take her in the morning."

Eric responded to the news with a frown. "Babe, as much as I'd really like _not _to go, I have a damn Boosters meeting tonight I cannot miss."

Putting her earrings on, Tami continued their conversation on the go. "You'll have to take Gracie with you. I can't bring her to a Board meeting, and it's too late to get a sitter."

Perusing the kitchen and living room, Eric rubbed the back of his suddenly tightening neck. It looked like a war zone with laundry, toys, newspapers, and mail strewn all over the place. "You know, our home is a total freakin' mess. Damn it, it's outta control."

Tami slipped a blazer on, over her blouse. "Well, then roll up your sleeves and start picking it up, Hon. I don't know what to tell you. And why are you telling me? I have eyes. I can see. I came straight home and loaded the dishwasher and took out the trash. I went through the mail and made out the bills. And I picked Gracie up from day care.

Eric huffed, "Hey, I'm tryin' to help out around here, too. Hell, I cooked breakfast and brought home dinner, and stopped at the store on my way home … which I did not have time to do." Looking for some eating utensils to put on the table, he uttered under his breath, "Crap, you'd think there'd at least be a clean fork around here."

"I loaded the dishwasher. The phone rang, and then, I forgot to turn it on," Tami winced. "Sorry.

Tami looked at her husband's grouchy demeanor and suddenly became very defensive. "Eric, you knew this week was going to be a bad week for me. Tonight's Board Meeting is on the calendar and has been for weeks. I'm sorry if everything is not being taken care of. I can't do it all."

"Well, hell. It looks like _nothin'_ is being taken care of around here, Tami," Eric said with a scowl on his face. He was obviously angry. How he missed _'the Coach's wife.'_

"Oh, I see," Tami answered, becoming angry herself. "You have plenty of patience and compassion and _'hugs for thugs'_ … but you don't have any left for me?"

"Awww, c'mon," Eric screwed up his face. "It's not Hugs for Thugs …. It's Cops and Jocks, a second chance program in conjunction with the Dillon Police …"

Tami cut him off, "And you don't have to come home huffing and cussing like some kind of a drill sergeant. Whatever happened to leaving it on the field?"

"I'm _not_ tryin' to be a damn drill sergeant," he tried to explain himself.

Tami immediately countered, "You come in, complaining because there's no food in the house, and _your _laundry isn't done ..."

Eric let out a frustrated sigh. "Tami, you know damn well I can't go to the grocery store on a weekend when we lose a game, much less _forfeit _the damn thing."

Tami put her hands on her hips. "Hon, I didn't expect you to go to the store this weekend. But how do you come in here and expect me to take care of all this when there are not enough hours in a day for me to even take a pee break?"

"Fine," Eric looked up to the sky, exasperated. "What the hell ever."

But he was not as exasperated as his wife. "You coming home, in a foul mood with a negative attitude, is not helpful. Plus, you need to check your language when you come through this door. I don't want Gracie to hear your talk."

Now she'd done it. Eric's jaw clenched. "Well, I'm sorry if I can't be your virtuous _'molder of men'_ all the time. By the way, that speech you always give me ... it doesn't work at East Dillon because I've tried it. Hell, these are not boys I'm dealin' with over there … they're a bunch of criminals. And now, I have to be an ass. Yeah, that's right. I don't _want_ to be an ass, but in order to do what I need to do over at East Dillon, I _have_ to be an ass."

He slammed his East Dillon cap off his head and onto the dining room table. "I didn't ask to be coachin' over there, but this is what I need to do to reach these kids. I'm doin' the best I can with the very little I have to work with."

"How? By yelling and cussing? Scowling and fuming? How's that working for you, Coach?" she pleaded. Then, she looked him in the eye, "Would you want to be coached by you? Honestly?"

Eric closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration. "You don't understand. I am in about as low as I can go. I'm workin' with the bottom of the heap over there, with the worst of the worst. You know why the police drop the thugs off to me? Because they all live within the boundaries of East Dillon High. These two schools are not equal, no matter what the District's party line B.S. is. I should know, Tami. Hell, I see it up close and personal."

Tami had heard enough. Talking with her hands, she blurted, "Eric, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. But when you come through the door into _our_ home … flip the switch. Turn it off! And please leave your new _'Ass'_ persona out on the field."

Then, Tami grabbed her purse and car keys and raced for the door. _"SLAM!"_

"Whoa!" Julie said, as she inadvertently walked into one of the worst arguments she had ever heard her parents have.

Eric looked up at his oldest daughter, embarrassed by what she had just witnessed. In a much lower voice, he apologized to her, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

After a beat, he asked her flat out, "Are you _sure_ you want to go to East Dillon?"

She looked at him, speechless.

He continued, "'Cause you'd better be damn sure. Take it from me, if it doesn't work out for you there … there's nowhere else to go in Dillon."

"Dad," Julie finally spoke. "Are you and Mom gonna be okay?"

Eric let out a long sigh. "You're mother and I will work it out. I don't know exactly how at the moment, but we'll work it out. You're workin' tonight?"

"Uh, yeah," she looked up at him with worry still in her voice.

"Well, okay," he said, running his fingers through his hair as he was thinking. "I'll take Gracie with me tonight to the Boosters meetin'. There's chicken in there … Don't give me a hard time tonight about the organic stuff, alright?"

"I won't. I'll set us a place to eat," Julie answered. She went into the kitchen, turned on the dishwasher and hand washed some eating utensils. She moved a pile of papers to the side of the dinner table and set a place for her Dad, Gracie and herself. And she even ate a piece of the non-organic chicken in order to keep the peace.

"Your red work shirts are washing in cold water. And there's a load of Gracie's play clothes on top of the dryer ready to go in as the next cold water load," she informed her Dad, trying to make his really bad day somehow better.

He looked up, astounded at how much she had heard. Frankly, he was embarrassed by how much she had heard. "Thank you, Sweetie. Again, I'm real sorry about all that."

"Dad," Julie looked up, mustering the courage to say what she had to say. To say her Dad was in a foul mood tonight was an understatement. "Just so you know … it sucks over at Mom's school, too. And not just for me," Julie wisely interjected in between bites of the slaw.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Eric thoughtfully responded. "Noted." And he reached over and gave Julie's arm a squeeze and a tight smile and repeated, "Duly noted."


End file.
